100 Mile Dinner: Planning and Despair

My husband is shocked: I still haven't finished reading my book about the 100 Mile Diet. Me, who usually reads 3 books at a time, who has not only an iTunes book library but also a Kobo book library and who is in need of another entire bookshelf because we are starting to have books piled up on the floor. Again. Yet for some reason, the last little while has been so busy that I haven't managed to get a relatively small and quite easy to read book finished. Yeah.... About that.

I have managed to read enough, however, that I have already run into one of my first dilemas: how far am I going to take this? If I am going to adhere to the spirit of the idea, then everything must come from within the sphere I have set out for this project. For us, that is going to be either a 100 mile radius from the city of Montreal or from within the province of Quebec. I still have to figure out where 100 miles takes me from here! That will allow me some products from Ontario, but none of the wines from the Niagara region, for example. I have allowed for a much greater distance provided the food stuffs come from within the borders of La Belle Province. Is that wrong? Maybe, but as this is as much an experiment as anything, and none of this is set in stone, I'm good with that decision. At least for now. When I say "it must come from", I really do mean that it can't just be processed here, it must be grown here, in dirt that I could actually haul my backside out to see with my very own personal eyeballs if I so choose. That is going to make things interesting, and I don't pretend otherwise as I'm Fairly certain that the Earth Balance I use isn't from around here! Haven't quite worked that out yet, in terms of what I will replace it with, but I have a few ideas. Well, actually I have one idea and it's for my first meal, but I'm okay with taking this one meal at a time.

Something else that I am very okay with is simply how much more aware I am of what I see around me in the markets and shops. Last week while at the Atwater market, probably for the first time I realized that a large number of the vendors listed which produce was grown here. Yes, a lot of what I was seeing was root vegetables, things that would store well and keep over the cold months, but there were also a number of wild mushrooms already available, some of which were even wild foraged, as well as a company from just north of here that had these beautiful boxes of micro-greens and edible flowers ready for dinner. Light and crisp but really flavourful too; without having to read the box we could taste beet, corriander, spinach and mustard, and there were a number of others as well. Made for a really tasty salad! Especially when topped with home made vinegrette of canola oil mixed with a locally produced ice-cider vinegar. To be perfectly honest with you, I fell in love with the bottle even before I knew what was in it because it's tiny! One of the things that Quebec does well is apples, and this vinegar is beautiful! Delicately sharp; the apple is present without being either over powering or diminished by the sharpness of the vinegar. Happy find! ( Fabrice Lafon is the place to check out) As I found all of these while there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground, I must say that I was quite relieved. Still doesn't mean that I've got this all figured out, but just opening my eyes and being a little more aware has made me realize that this really will be doable.

Now, I think I am going to read for a bit. Enjoy!

Russian Vodka and Local Eating

I have the plague. Really, what I have is a nasty cold/flu, but I'm feeling about as pathetic as if I had the plague. It started on Saturday, though I mistook it for being seriously hungover (because I was), but by that evening, the scratchy throat, ear aches, sniffles and coughing had truly set in, and yeah... Insult to (self-inflicted) injury. *sigh*

My kitten, Eva, helping me read
 

I really want to do a proper review of the restaurant we went to on Friday, Rasputin, but I don't think I can currently do it justice. For now, I will simply say that a very good time was had, the food was lovely and the service was too. With a party of 16, they were able to accomodate my dietary restrictions and still managed to get us all fed at close to the same time. I have also learned, without a shadow of a doubt, that everyone is Russian with enough Vodka! Oy. 

I really shouldn't be too upset about being unwell, all things considered. This is, for all intents and purposes, the first full on cold I've had all winter, and this after my husband spent almost a month trying to cough up a lung with a really nasty bug he picked up right around the holidays. I honestly believe that the way we eat, cutting out foods that affect my immune system has kept me from getting all the colds and stuff that have been floating around. I've noticed for some time that I also haven't had nearly as many Lupus flare ups as I used to, and when I do, they aren't as bad. Works for me!

When you start thinking about how one thing affects another, and how that can lead to other ideas and places, and connections, it can take you through some very interesting thought processes. How does the way we eat affect us physically can lead to questions like how does it affect us socially, economically, culturally, and environmentally. Deep thoughts for being stuck in bed with the sniffles, I know, but not new thoughts. For a number of years, I have taken advantage of the Farmers Baskets programes offered locally, and love that I can support a local farmer and get some phenomenally fresh produce all summer long without having to support large box grocery stores. I truly believe that eating well is one of the most subversive acts of rebellion we have available to us, that really can have a far reaching impact. So, with that in mind, I have been terrifying my husband with the concepts behind the 100 Mile Diet.

I have only just started reading up on this, though the name pretty much explains it. You only eat/injest what comes from within a 100 mile radius of where you are. When I started talking about this as an idea, he almost cried (I think he'd take his coffee intravenously if he could, and I am fairly certain coffee doesn't grow in Quebec), and really, with all of the changes he has made to his diet for me (without complaint!!), we have agreed to a compromise. The 100 Mile Dinner. So, on the last Tuesday of every month, we will put together a meal that can be sourced from either 100 miles (in a circle on a map, that allows for some cross boarder into Ontario and maybe the tip of Vermont even) or from Quebec. So, for now, I am reading The 100-Mile Diet: A year of local eating by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon.  This should be interesting!